A Small Act of Kindness at Trader Joe's Leaves a Big Impression

One of our favorite places to pick up omiyage for friends and family whenever we travel is Trader Joe's. 

The snacks are just so addicting.  I have many faves - Joe-Joe's, Milk Chocolate Covered Mini Pretzels, Pound Plus Chocolates, Butter Waffle Cookies...I could go on and on!

The staff is always super friendly too, eager to assist in locating products or answering questions about specific items.

On a recent visit to Trader Joe's in San Mateo, we loaded our cart with a bunch of sweets.

We were ready to check out, and the cashier began taking items out of the cart to scan.  My oldest son, who has an autism spectrum disorder, and therefore has difficulties with understanding and adhering to social "norms" (e.g. he'll hug the hostess at a restaurant), asked the employee "Can I help?"

As I was about to pull my son away to tell him to wait on the side, the employee, without a second's hesitation, said "Sure!" and moved over so my son could start scanning items.

Thank you to the Trader Joe's employee for making my son's day!

I was in shock.

My son scanned item after item, while the employee supervised and made sure everything scanned correctly.

At the end of the entire transaction, my son was beaming, and thanked the employee.

I'm almost certain that the employee had no idea about my son's special needs, so the fact that he did not hesitate to grant the request of a random child blew me away.  Maybe kids asking to help at check-out is not that much of an uncommon occurrence at Trader Joe's, but whatever the case may be, his small act of kindness left a big impression on me, especially since he easily could've said "No," which could have resulted in my son ending up in tears (he is very sensitive, and doesn't always understand that although he's trying to be helpful, in some situations it's not allowed, or not safe).

I did not get the employee's name (I just know he's a Dallas Cowboys fan, as another employee asked my husband, who was wearing a Dallas Cowboys shirt, who he thought would be QB in an upcoming game, and the employee at check-out took out a credit card with the Cowboys logo, acknowledging that he was a fan as well), but I do want to let the blogosphere know that his kindness did not go unnoticed.

He made my son's day.

And he made me a Trader Joe's fan for life.